Enlarged tennis stadium

A very large area of Tarntanya Wama (Park 26) is off limits to the public (and has been that way for decades). See the aerial pic below.

Adelaide Oval, Tennis SA, Memorial Drive Tennis Club, the Next Generation Fitness Centre and even a hairdressing salon have all taken over parts of this park, with leases in some instances as long as 50 years.

For those who dream of one day reclaiming any part of this land for the public, the signs are not looking good. In 2017, Tennis SA secured a $10 million Federal grant to upgrade existing courts, install new fencing and lighting, and construct a new 'Pavilion' in this area, in what it is calling the "Anchor Project". The “pavilion” was constructed in late 2018.

Publicity that's been disseminated to members of the Memorial Drive Tennis Club about the "Anchor Project" spruiks the benefits to its members, but totally omits any discussion of the broader public, from whom this land is leased.

Under the lease re-negotiated in 2016 with the Adelaide City Council Tennis SA pays just $304 per week (indexed) for 3,500 square metres of Park Land. To put that into perspective, you'd pay a similar amount for a tiny 60 to 70 square-metre two-bedroom apartment in a suburb like Prospect or Sefton Park.

But the "Anchor Project" is just the beginning of the grand plans to build over this once-public Park with something much larger. In the words of the "Anchor Project FAQ" there is a "grand vision for a tennis precinct showcased by a multi-sport retractable roof stadium positioned on the site of the existing Tennis SA Centre Courts".

Tennis SA's publicity shows their hoped-for vast area of concrete, and a massive new covered stadium alongside Adelaide Oval. There is, as yet, no funding for this so-called "Stage 2" but the current "Anchor Project" is intended to help realise this ambition.

There is some doubt about whether Tennis SA will proceed with this, or might choose to support instead an alternative plan for a new stadium nearby in Park 27.

However, if you believe Park Lands should be for the public, rather than corporate sport, then please TAKE ACTION!